Overview & Reviews

Kia Motors is a South Korean automaker that's relatively new to the United States. In its early years, Kia largely catered to budget-minded consumers with well-equipped vehicles priced below competing models. More recently, this growing brand has kept value a priority while also emphasizing technology and sportiness.

Founded in Korea in 1944, Kia started as a producer of steel tubing and bicycle parts. The company's name has its roots in the Chinese language, and means "to arise, to come up out of Asia." By the early 1950s, the company had produced Korea's first bicycle; by the latter part of the decade, Kia had branched out into motor scooters, with the rollout of the C100.

The 1960s saw Kia expanding its lineup to include motorcycles and three-wheeled cargo vehicles. Naturally, the next logical step was automobile production, and the company began moving in this direction in the early 1970s. By 1973, Kia had built a facility designed to make its automotive dreams a reality; its Sohari plant held the distinction of being Korea's first fully integrated automobile production facility, and went on to spawn Korea's first internal-combustion gasoline engine. A year later, Kia unveiled the Brisa, Korea's first passenger car. By the end of the decade, Kia's technology was being used to manufacture vehicles like the Peugeot 604 and the Fiat 132.

By the late '80s, Kia's lineup included new models like the Concord, Capital, Potentia and Pride. In 1987, Ford brought the Pride to U.S. shores, rebadging it as the Ford Festiva. Seven years later, Ford dealers got a replacement for the entry-level, subcompact Festiva in the form of another Kia constructed product, the Aspire.

Kia finally began selling vehicles in the U.S. under its own name in the early '90s, trumpeting its presence with the introduction of the compact Sephia. The car's rollout was gradual; in the early days of its production, the Sephia was only available in select Western states. By the mid-'90s, SUVs had emerged as a phenomenally popular and profitable vehicle segment. Kia responded with the 1995 Sportage, a compact SUV. By the end of the '90s, Kia's nationwide rollout was nearly complete.

Financial difficulties in the late '90s prevented Kia from expanding its lineup beyond those two models. Hyundai, South Korea's other major automaker, acquired the company in a merger in 1998.

Kia has been on a major upswing since its purchase by Hyundai, with improvements in build quality, performance and overall refinement. Reliability, previously a weak point, has also improved markedly and consumers' confidence was further bolstered by Kia's substantial warranty program. Today, Kia is on a dramatic upswing and offers a broad lineup of well-built coupes, sedans and crossovers that stand out for their value, performance and sporty styling.

User Reviews:

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  Not a bad ride - 2003 Kia Rio
  By molly - April 23 - 9:30 pm

  The car had limited power but was reliable and had amazing gas mileage. There were numerous problems but each was a low cost repair or not worth repairing. All door locks failed to work, doors would not stay shut in the winter, interior lights flashed, check engine light turned on and off, there was always oil in the 3rd cylinder, clutch began wearing at 70,000 miles, front brakes were replaced at 60,000 miles. Various noises started coming from the front end or engine after about 60,000 miles. I miss the fuel economy but the car was traded in at 78,000 miles do to numerous problems. Though because of reliability, I upgraded to another kia product.

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  Think twice about a kia sportage! - 2001 Kia Sportage
  By UnhappywithKia - April 19 - 10:00 am

  im only leasing my kia & i cant wait until 5/05 when this lease is over. rear window motors replaced twice, broken again, muffler fell off, entire exhaust sytem replaced. overheated... radiator,thermostat,water pump & some gasket thing replaced, power steering belt broke. over 20 trips to the dealership in 3 yrs...more problems than my last 4 vehicles combined!

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  Shake Rattle and Roll - 2016 Kia Sedona
  By john schuler - April 14 - 9:58 pm

  Between the highway noise and the rattling it is the worse car we have ever owned. We owned it for a little over a year and put on 17 K miles (mostly highway miles.) Went to trade it in at a Kia dealer and lost over $15K in value. Was looking to trade back to a Sorento which we had and traded in for this vehicle. As far as options goes it has it all. Would never own another Sedona.

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  Maybe Just a Lemon - 2008 Kia Rio
  By Prime# - April 13 - 2:13 pm

  I recently bought a 2008 Kia Rio and after only having it for two days my transmission went out. There was only around 8,000 miles on the car when I bought it, so i figured it was going to be very reliable...Well maybe I just got unlucky but it made me never want to buy a Kia ever again. Besides the transmission going out, I felt that it was a pretty attractive car(granted I had gotten a black Rio which meant that the tacky plastic trim was not as noticeable). It was a rather smooth ride, but I did feel kind of unsafe in it because it was so small. Besides the transmission going out, I guess it was cute little car...

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  Disappointed Consumer - 2004 Kia Sedona
  By Lisa Grimmer - April 13 - 10:00 am

  I have had my sedona 2 years, and I have had to take it back in 6 times for repairs. 3 times were for check engine light, which is still not repaired. Both of the sliding doors had to have the rollers replaced, and the passenger side mirror is stuck. All of the repairs have been under the warranty, but what happens when the warranty ends?

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  Avoid at all costs- Please learn from me - 2007 Kia Optima
  By KenInPasco - March 13 - 7:10 pm

  Ive had to replace the wonderful automatic transmission twice. Kia needs to address the problems people are having with their five speed automatic transmissions. AAA roadside assistance has had to tow me three times with this vehicle. Twice for the transmission and once for a failed starter.

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  Will never buy another Kia - 2004 Kia Sorento
  By Artouchette - February 28 - 1:16 pm

  Bought my 2004 Kia Sorento used in July 09. Had the bolt drop off three times, since. First two, it was under warranty. Shortly after the second fix by Sports Auto World in Bourne, it developed a new symptom, a burning smell. Took the car to the dealer, he was gone. (along with $1500 for an extended warranty that he never bought) Executive Kia, in New Bedford, MA took it in, and now, it was the Main Gasket?? I asked about the bolt issue, they assured me it was "fine." It died 3 days later. They claim they didnt touch it. Not under warranty. Too bad. I havent even had the car a full year! Replacing Bolt repeatedly is not reasonable expense.

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  Awful Gas Mileage - 2006 Kia Sedona
  By Buckeyes97 - February 20 - 8:50 am

  First and foremost, I want to address the horrible fuel mileage issues with this van. EPA says 18/25 city and highway. I am averaging no better than 18.2 MPG on highway trips. I could have bought the more pricey and more refined Honda Odyssey when considering the cost of fuel for this Kia. Im gathering that the Honda van is getting almost 10 MPG more on the highway. Wow! Im almost sick. That said, the vehicle seems ok otherwise. I am sure it soars above anything GM, Ford, or Chrysler would produce. It does have an air leak somewhere on the passenger side that is somewhat noisy. It also has a noisy ride which I do not thing is totally due to the cheap Hankook tires.

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  IT IS NOT WORTH THE MONEY - 2002 Kia Optima
  By tina burke - February 10 - 12:20 pm

  this car is has been a major problem and a hassle with repairs. first the timing belt then the sensors within the car. when a car is mostly a computer and the sensors arent working and most repair shops know nothing about kias ...you are out of luck and money. better to pay a little more for a more dependable car

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  An car for people who have never driven a honda - 2011 Kia Forte
  By bytes220 - February 6 - 4:53 am

  My car is a Kia forte SX hatchback. First let me start off by saying that if youre considering this car, Only buy it if you can get it with the six speed manual. The 2.4liter engine is completely unsuited for the 6 speed automatic. All the shift points are wrong meaning that you end up with a car that is 1.5 seconds slower to 60 than the manual and sucks gas like theres no tomorrow. My previous car was a 2004 Honda Accord EX-L with a manual 5 speed transmission. This car had an engine that had less horsepower and torque than the Kia and was quite a bit heavier and larger but it was substantially quicker and got 35% better gas mileage than the Kia. The Honda also handled better.